There’s more to yogurt than meets the mouth, and you sell yourself short when you limit your yogurt consumption to the commercially manufactured dessert-like versions that fill the shelves in supermarkets and cafeterias. Continue reading
Category Archives: Recipes
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Grandma Rosie’s Rhubarb
Last week, I wrote about my Grandma Rosie’s chopped eggplant, and it was a huge hit! So now, this week, with the rhubarb starting to poke up in the garden, I thought I’d write about her rhubarb. But first a few words about the woman. My Grandma Rosie was an extraordinarily good cook. I mean exceptionally good. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Grandma Rosie’s Chopped Eggplant
On this Mother’s Day 2019, here is my present to you: Grandma Rosie’s Chopped Eggplant. This recipe means so much more to me than simply the sum of its ingredients. We used to make it for special holidays, and always in a big wooden bowl with what we reverently called “the chopper,” a utensil whose correct name — I have since learned — is actually “mezzaluna,” which accurately describes its half-moon shape. The bowl and its contents would pass among my grandmother and whomever else was helping out in the kitchen, each of us chopping for as long as we were able, until our chopping arm was aching and it was time for the bowl to be transferred to the next lap. We all chopped, but Grandma Rosie was the only one who decided when the eggplant was ready.
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chopped Salad
My parents moved into the house next door to us a year ago, so instead of getting to eat my father’s cooking only a few times a year, we are now lucky to count ourselves as regular beneficiaries of my father’s superb cooking. Not long ago, my father, also known as Chef Ira, cooked dinner while the rest of us put in a full day of work. The menu for that memorable meal included fresh cod; roasted potatoes, eggplant, squash, and Brussels sprouts with caramelized garlic and onions; and his famous chopped salad. My dad’s chopped salad, which appears at most if not all the meals he cooks, is “to die for!” and it is certainly worth learning how to make. Continue reading
Avoid HFCS, Make Your Own Ketchup
My dad is on a mission to get people to eat less ketchup, but it’s not because of the tomatoes, or the ketchup. It’s 100% because of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). He can’t stand the fact that most national brands of ketchup have so much HFCS, and that it’s usually first or second in the ingredient list. So he asked if I would post an entry about this. Okay, Dad, yes, here it is! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Judith’s Tabouli
Here is the best tabouli recipe you’ll ever eat. It comes from my friend Judith, who got it from her mom, who got it from her mom, who got it from her mom, which makes my friend Judith one very lucky daughter, granddaughter, cook. I’ve posted Judith’s recipes in these pages on occasion, and that makes you very lucky, too. Pick up what you need the next time you go shopping so you can make this whenever you’re ready! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Beans, Beans, They’re Good for Your Heart!
Many years ago, my vegetarian sister had a boyfriend whose mother served her “bean loaf” when she went to their home. Its dreadful, unappetizing name was nothing like its wonderful flavor, so my sister and I renamed it “chickpea pie.” The chickpea pie recipe stuck around for much longer than the vegetarianism (and the boyfriend). I sure wish I could find that recipe again. Chickpeas, like peanuts and lentils and edamame (soybeans), are a type of bean. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Joe Gardewin’s Ginseng Chicken Salad
My friend Joe recently invented a recipe that he calls “Ginseng Chicken Salad.” It all started with a recipe called Korean-style Ginseng Chicken, from Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen,* which he says is by far the best Korean cookbook he has, and I think that’s saying a lot (!). He especially likes it because the recipes are very similar to recipes his wife used to make. If you don’t happen to have a copy of Joe’s special cookbook, which I do not, you can use the leftovers from a boiled or roasted chicken recipe. I am proud to share this recipe here with you. He’s invented something good. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chef Ira’s Fresh Strawberries
My dad had a long and successful career in the perfume business, but he once confided to me that if he had it all to do over again, he would have become a cook. To tell the truth, I think that’s exactly what he did. Continue reading
The Zen of One Fried Egg
A few mornings a week, I fry myself an egg for breakfast. Just one perfect egg, or, at least, my attempt at it. I have been practicing for a long while, and it’s definitely coming along. It doesn’t stick to the pan anymore. I almost never break the yolk. Continue reading